geekpic.
more on kerry.
health
care
- Provide access
to the federal health care plan for those not already covered by other means.
Make it affordable by providing a 75% tax credit.
- Provide tax
incentives for businesses offering employees health care.
- Provide free medical care through Medicaid for children at or below 300%
of poverty level
- Use federal
buying power to drive down the cost of prescription drugs (i.e. bulk buying);
work with drug companies to bring cheaper versions (generics) to market faster.
- Require all
malpractice claims to be reviewed by independent third party before it goes
to court; eliminate punitive awards for anything by egregious cases
- Reimburse insurance
industry for catastrophic illnesses (expenses over $15,000)
energy
- Invest energy
royalties from public land into a new trust: Energy Security and Conservation
Trust dedicated to reduce dependence on foreign oil
- New trust would
fully fund current conservation trusts
- New trust would
allocate $20 billion over next 20 years to move nation to energy independence
- More efficient
autos
- Development
of biofuels
- Research
and implement move to hydrogen based energy economy
- Drive CAFE standards
to 36 mph by 2015 (will save 2 million barrels of oil/day)
- Provide tax
incentives for manufacturers to convert existing facilities to production
of hybrid and other high-efficiency autos
- Consumer tax
credits for fuel efficient (hybrids, etc.) cars
- A plan to use
hydrogen throughout nation by 2020 by funding massive project to solve sticky
issues (The Hydrogen Institute)
- National goal
of 20% of energy from renewables by 2020
- Subsidize research
into new production methods of ethanol and biodiesel
- Advocates wind
power
- Invest in more
efficient transportation system (commuter andintercity rail)
- Development
of wind, geothermal, hydrogen, solar (and others) power will create jobs
- Initiative to
cut government's energy bill by 20% by 2020
- Encourage (challenge)
municipalities corporations, universities, small businesses, and hospitals
to adhere to same energy reduction standards as fed. gov't. (not require?!)
- Tax credits
for energy efficient buildings and homes
- Consumers
get credits to purchase equipment to make homes more efficient
- Builders
get 20% credit on efficient equipment (water heaters, etc.) purchases
- Fannie Mae to
provide location efficient mortgage benefits (e.g. near public transit)
- Build an Alaskan
pipeline to pump natural gas
- Cooperate with
Canada and Mexico in energy matters
- Enhance natural
gas infrastructure to efficiently provide for energy needs
- Improve Liquefied
Natural Gas (LNG) Transportation Systems
- Increase efficiency
of natural gas use
- Invest $10 billion
dollars to move to cleaner coal-fired power plants and research ways to include
coal in hydrogen economy
- Close loophole
allowing small business owners to get $100,000 tax deduction when purchasing
SUVs
agriculture
- Ensure prompt
disaster relief
- Encourage Amtrak
service expansion to rural areas
- Expand and promote
rural health care
- Opposes Bush
plan to force rural seniors into HMOs for drug benefits
- Work to bring
broadband access to rural communities
- Support rural
conservation efforts
education
- Proposes an
Education Trust Fund to provide mandatory full support for No Child Left Behind
and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
- Wants to provide
more better pay and training to teachers (no specifics other than saying he
will 'be an advocate in the White House')
- Revise the definition
of Adequate Yearly Progress as defined in the NCLB Act
- Continue to
expand support for Head Start and other early learning programs
- Will champion
initiatives to drive down class size
- Supports modernizing
and rebuilding schools
- Opposes vouchers
(drain on public school funds); expand public school choice programs; support
pilot schools.
national service
programs
- Provide School
for Service program -- two years of service in exchange for four years of
tuition at state school. Expand AmeriCorps to 500,000
- Engage 100,000
seniors in public service by providing $2000/yr tax free that can be applied
as an education grant for someone in family or community; defray health care
costs.
- Require community
service for high school graduation. States design programs, but not obligated
to implement if federal gov't doesn't fund program.
- Create a new
Community Defense Service guided by first responders (he also supports increasing
number of first responders).
- Community
Captains responsible for making sure communities have information to respond
to crisis, complimenting first responders
- would receive
training and education to assist first responders
- trained
to identify local health workers; provide information on
local evacuation/quarantine plans; stand ready to assist first responders
- To be funded
from Dept. Homeland Security
- Establish Summer
of Service program for 13 to 17 year olds. Supervised by AmeriCorps participants.
Receive $500 grant to apply to college or vocational school
- Push to expand
the Peace Corps to 25,000 members
- Recruit more
people to military
- No college
with federal aid able to ban ROTC except for religious reasons
- modernize
GI benefits
- ROTC scholarship
program expanded
homeland security
- Rollback tax
cuts for wealthy to fully fund Homeland Security
- Make HS a central
mission of National Guard and AmeriCorps
- Establish Community
Defense Service (mentioned under National Service)
- Call on the
private sector to 'help bring technological innovations to the war on terrorism'
- Establish Father
Judge Fund to hire up to 100,000 more firefighters and ensure firefighters
are fully equipped
- Restore funding
to COPS to realize its mission to hire up to 100,000 new police officers
- Incorporate
IT into first responders equipment to enable quality communication services
- Reform domestic
intelligence (no specifics)
- Connect national
public health systems to detect outbreaks and problems in real-time
- Connect public
and private research to bring new antidotes to first responders
- Establish standards
for port and border security
- Pursue 'modest
safety standards for privately held infrastructure' and help 'owners find
economical ways to pay for increased security'
iraq
- Place creation
of Iraqi government and reconstruction under authority of UN
- If elected,
will lay out immediately and publicly a concrete plan for turning power back
to the Iraqi people
- Restore services
ASAP as well as train an Iraq Security Force
- Internationalize
costs of Iraq, pay for America's part by rolling back Bush's tax cuts
- New UN resolution
to create a UN military force in Iraq under US command
immigration
- Speed up the
naturalization process, reduce wait for family visas
- Reduce backlog
- Restore benefits
for legal immigrants
- Supports DREAM
act to provide immigration relief to undocumented minors who've spent formative
years in US, graduated from high school here, and 'demonstrate good moral
character'
- Expedite and
make easier (and cheaper) naturalization services for military personnel
american workers
- Raise minimum
wage and index to inflation
- Extend and improve
unemployment insurance to provide sufficient benefits for those between jobs
and skills training for laid off workers
- Create jobs
through building infrastructure, energy independence, jobs, restoring highway
funds.
- Supports ergonomics
standards
- Airline whistleblower
protection (feels like resume padding)
- Protect right
to unionize
women's issues
- Good women's
rights record
- Supports abortion's
rights
- Supports pay
disclosure to help insure equitable pay
- Defend Title
IX
- Supports making
insurance companies cover contraceptives
- Supports PBoR
giving women direct access to OB/GYN
college
- College Opportunity
Tax Credit -- a tax credit on each year of college on the first $4,000 of
tuition
- Provide money
to states for higher education funding, driving down (or at least slowing)
tuition costs
- Work to implement
a system whereby colleges and universities purchase items together (health
insurance, energy, supplies, etc.) to provide savings
- Implement 'I
Have A Dream' scholarship to provide $1000 of college prep courses; support
high school reforms to allow students to take more college courses; expand
early intervention programs to support high-risk kids
- Encourage students
to complete college with counseling, more exchange programs, etc.
civil rights
- Good judicial
nominations
- Preserve Affirmative
Action
- Eliminate racial
profiling
- Work to end
employment discrimination based on sexual orientation
- Prosecute hate
crimes
- Supports comprehensive
electoral reform
